Cardinals trade pitcher Jack Flaherty to Orioles

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMIZ)

The St. Louis Cardinals made one last, big move just before the trade deadline on Tuesday evening. The club traded pitcher Jack Flaherty to the Baltimore Orioles.

The right-hander is the fourth pitcher to be traded away from the birds. Closer Jordan Hicks, lefty Jordan Montgomery and righty reliever Chris Stratton all got traded away in the sell-off, as well.

27-year-old Flaherty has had an up and down last few seasons with the birds on the bat. He's struggled with injuries at times and owns a 4.43 ERA in 109 2/3 innings for St. Louis.

In return, STL acquired minor league pitchers Drew Rom and Zack Showalter, along with minor league infielder Cesar Prieto. Rom and Prieto are both listed among the Orioles top-20 prospects by MLB Pipeline.

Rom has made 18 starts for in Triple A in 2023, going 7-6 and striking out 100 batters in 86.0 innings pitched. 

Prieto is in his second season of professional baseball, having signed out of Cuba in January of 2022.  The lefty hitting infielder has played shortstop, second base and third base, and was batting .349 with a .868 OPS between double and triple A in 2023. 

Finally. Showalter was the Orioles 11^th round selection in 2022. The right-handed pitcher has posted a 2.37 ERA this year in 9 games.